Leaving the Scheme

Leaving the Company

If you leave the Company before reaching Normal Retirement Age then your pension savings will be left invested in the Scheme for future payment.

You also have additional options.

You can transfer your benefits in the Scheme to another registered pension scheme. The transfer amount will reflect the value of your chosen investments at the date the transfer is made.
If you are over the age of 55, you may retire from the Scheme, subject to the Trustee and Company consent.

Please note, if you joined the Scheme before 1 October 2015, and have less than 2 years membership, you can take a refund of the value of your Member Contributions paid via the Non SMART Pension arrangements, less tax.

In addition, the Trustee may transfer your benefits in the Scheme into an individual policy with Legal & General in the future, and you will no longer be a member of the Scheme (this will not occur until 12 months after you have left).

If your benefit is transferred to an individual policy with Legal & General, Legal & General will become responsible for all matters relating to your benefits. The rules and options for taking your benefits will reflect the rules and options under the Scheme.

The Trustee carries out these transfers from time to time, and will notify you in advance if a transfer of your benefits is proposed. You can expect to receive details explaining your options shortly after you leave the Company.

Please also take a look at our Leaving the Kingfisher Pension Scheme video.

Transferring Out

One you have become a deferred member, you have the option of transferring out your benefits to a registered pension arrangement.

You can transfer your benefits to:

your new employer’s pension arrangement;
to an insurance company/provider; or
to another registered pension provider of your choice.

Generally, the Trustee will allow you to transfer to most registered pension schemes, however the Trustee will require certain pieces of information before proceeding with the transfer. If the receiving scheme cannot provide this information the transfer may not proceed.

Opting out or leaving the Scheme but not the Company

You can opt-out of the Scheme by giving notice to the Trustee.

Simply contact Legal & General and they’ll explain the next steps to you.

Please note under the Automatic Enrolment legislation, the Company must automatically re-enrol you into a workplace pension arrangement between 6 months and three years of your opt-out date if you continue to meet the eligibly criteria. Please see the Automatic Enrolment section to see how this may impact you should you opt-out.

Please note your life assurance benefits will be affected if you opt-out of the Scheme. The level of life assurance will be dependent on the date you joined the Company.

If you joined the Company on or before 30 June 2012 your life assurance benefit will be 2x Salary should you die whilst working for the Company.
If you joined the Company on or after 1 July 2012 your life assurance benefit will be 1x Salary should you die whilst working for the Company.

If you want to re-join at a later date you may still be able to do this but you may need to provide medical information and the Company will need to agree to you re-joining. Your Company service will be retained for contribution purposes should you re-join the Scheme. The Trustee or Company may change this policy in the future.

Leaving due to Incapacity

If you have to retire (at any age) due to Incapacity, you may apply to use your pension savings to take all as cash or buy an Annuity and/or take a Pension Commencement Lump Sum as if you were retiring normally. This is subject to the Trustee’s approval and you satisfying the Scheme’s definition of Incapacity. In addition, subject to Trustee approval, if you are still an active member of the Scheme and are below the Scheme’s Normal Retirement Age, the Company will increase your pension savings by paying in an extra sum of money that is equal to the value of the Company Contributions into your pension savings throughout your membership. However, this may be restricted if your health condition existed before you joined the Scheme.

If the Scheme’s medical adviser considers that you have less than 12 months to live, you may be able to receive your pension savings as a lump sum tax free, this is known as serious ill health lump sum.